Party Line: One 'Mo Time

And so it begins again, the weeklong celebration of Gay Pride in New York. The festivities kick off with Heritage of Pride's rally on Sunday the 18th in Bryant Park and concludes with the famed march down 5th Avenue on Sunday the 25th.

The march is titled The Fight for Love and Life, and the theme couldn't be more appropriate this year. With the brutal gay-bashing of singer/diva/drag superstar Kevin Aviance in the East Village, the cabal of theocrats trying to limit the right to marry with a Constitutional ammendment, and the 25th Anniversary of the AIDS crisis, we certainly do have to keep up the fight. It's a good time to remember the seeds of this celebration were sown in rebellion.

The Stonewall riots ushered in a new era of gay liberation, and while we've made tremendous strides in the fight for equality, the battle isn't over. We were pushed, and we pushed back. And we've been pushing back since then. But we're far from done. There's a tendency to suffer "pride fatigue" after being inundated with so much queer spirit. Rather that be tired, try to be re-energized and inspired. Keep a little politics in your party and let your freak flag fly.

The Operator will try to keep you up do date with all the Pride-related events in the city, though they are many. And an early Happy pride, y'all.